Work starts on $170-million apartment complex near Staples Center

Rendering of the Avant apartments being built on Flower and Figueroa streets… (GMP Architects )

Construction began last week on the Avant, a $170-million luxury apartment complex near the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The Avant will have 440 units in three buildings on Figueroa and Flower streets between Pico and Venice boulevards. Downtown’s South Park neighborhood, which includes Staples Center and the LA Live entertainment complex, is among the region’s more robust rental housing markets.

The project is being developed by Century West Partners, a Los Angeles residential builder made up of Fifield and her husband, Steve Fifield of Chicago-based Fifield Cos., and Los Angeles apartment investor Michael Sorochinsky of Cypress Equity Investments.

The first phase of the Avant consists of two seven-story buildings at 1340 S. Figueroa and 1355 S. Flower. Joined by an elevated walkway, the two buildings will house 247 apartments above ground-floor restaurants and shops.

Those buildings are set to be completed by November 2013, when work will begin on another seven-story tower with 194 units at 1500 S. Figueroa that would be finished by the end of 2014.

Rents at the Avant are expected to range from $1,350 to $3,500 per month.